Innovative and stylish fanfiction, showcasing the very best across multiple sf, fantasy & literature fandoms. Good writing in all its forms can be found here, including gen, het, slash, OCs, AUs, crossovers, future fics, humour & pastiche

'Shadow wondered if she'd come to Los Angeles to be an actress, or a dancer. ... The woman sitting next to him wasn't unattractive, but she had a face that ought to have been captured in marble, rather than in film.' Apricot creates a real feel of canon in miniature here, with a road trip, potent dreams & plenty of new gods to meet

'Spider... was thinking of a trick he could play on her. He would spin himself into a handsome man, seduce her and then when her mind was on the pleasure his penis was bringing her, he would steal the bag and the gourds in it.' Lovely rhythmical writing which could fit straight into the novel

'They forget Monkey was born of stone, not womb, they forget Monkey creates new monkeys from handfuls of fur, chewed up and spat out.' Original & beautifully crafted, 'The Journey West' packs a surprising amount into very few words

'He doesn't have a plan. Plans shatter regularly, teacups on a parquet floor. Instead of planning Shadow visualizes an image, not as sharp as snow, but simple like the smell of fresh pie.' Lovely tone with a real feel of the original, working inevitably towards the perfect ending. One of my favourites from Yuletide 2011

'Not even fair-metal hair, magically spun and crafted by dwarves could outlast the march of time and their slow fall out of memory and grace.' Empy expands a throwaway line in the novel, and gives us a much darker Loki than is found in most fanfiction

'There is another sort of darkness, a darkness that is velvet soft and thick, a darkness that encases, wraps, surrounds. In such darkness, there is nothing to see, nothing to hear. It is complete, seeping into the hearts of anyone who dares venture into it.' Spiderfire invents an interesting mythological underpinning to the novel's Honour Guard in this atmospheric short

'"Hullo?" he called. He tried not to feel foolish. He had grown up speaking to people who werent there, strictly speaking, but he was a bit out of practice.' Lovely bittersweet coda to the book, with a voice that's very true to the original

'Unlike other dignitaries he had met in London Below, the Ringmistress was not given to layers of velvet and lace. Rather, she could have stepped straight out of Swinging London, right down to the yellow-and-black checkered shift dress and white patent go go boots.' The various strands in this novella-length sequel don't always bind together, but the individual pieces are engaging, and the inventive OC alone is worth the price of admission

'It rises impossible huge, the sloth, dwarfing the mountain and the statue at its top, the whole city in its shadow -- at least, that's one way of interpreting the twisting lines and wavy patterns of the panel. It might simply be that the artist had a unique take on the concept of perspective.' Hunter's life in glimpses, fabulous & disorienting as all good Neverwhere tales should be. The frame story is particularly enjoyable

'In the spaces below and above and between and through London, rivers became ditches became sewers became streets, and history flowed into fable.' This Gaimanesque sequel is packed with richly researched detail as it slowly builds to a climax that's both surprising & inevitable. Simply wonderful

'"We here at the Three Crowns only guarantee the veracity and quality of our information. We do not guarantee that our clients will like what they hear."' Sophia Prester neatly meshes two common sequel plots. The result is worth a try for its inventive take on London Below alone

'Another corner. And another, down into the bowels of the palace that the emperor knew better than any person alive. Yet the voices drew nearer, one flat as mud and one oily as a pig carcass.' An original look at Croup & Vandemar through the ages, always changing but always the same

'The colour had fled from his hair and skin, and he died of starvation a month later, for he refused all food. Before he died, however, he told his story in fragments, punctuated by screams in a language that made his mouth bleed.' Atmospheric retelling of The Hound of the Baskervilles, imbued with a real sense of horror

'The Church of the Ancient had a sign out front where I have often seen them place passages from the Deep Wonders. Exult! Salvation is risen from the dark and the Depths, and the like. It said, then, Why?' Watson recounts his side of the story. Perfect pastiche, with a few telling details